Crime and e-riddle
Laptop poser in Tata case

The CID, investigating the murder of Brajesh Sahay, has been unable to crack the password to the deceased TML Drivelines executive’s laptop without which it says it cannot make headway in the case.

Sahay, an assistant general manager with the Tata Motors subsidiary in Jamshedpur, was shot dead outside his 18C Dalma Road bungalow in the elite Nildih Colony of Telco on the night of February 22. So far, police know that his assailants were professional shooters who used a 7.65mm pistol to pump four bullets into the 40-year-old official’s head, neck and chest.

Call details of Sahay’s cellphone too have been acquired, but officers claim they have found no clue on the motive. Now, the laptop, which was in the executive’s car when he collapsed bleeding at the steering that night, seems to be the only unchecked object that might give the CID a start on the case.

A CID officer, who is part of the investigating team, said no one in the family knew the password to the laptop, which apparently was one of Sahay’s coveted gadgets. “The laptop was in the victim’s car when the murder took place, and it is in police custody now. We are trying hard to obtain the password,” he said.

“The CDR (call details record) from the victim’s cellphone did not have much significance. Therefore, the information loaded in the laptop may be the only way to crack the case,” he added.

City DSP K.N. Chowdhury said efforts were on to access the laptop. “We are taking help from the cyber crime cell in Ranchi,” he said.

A police officer, assisting the CID team in the probe, discounted the theory highlighted in the FIR lodged by Sahay’s widow Sweta. She said the senior executive had raised hackles for his role in implementing the compulsory retirement scheme at TML Drivelines last year. Over 300 non-performing employees had been forced to quit with benefits under the scheme.

“Those who were removed from the automobile company were all above 50 years of age and received good retirement packages. Moreover, Brajesh Sahay was not the only executive to prepare the list of such employees. Why would they target him alone?” the officer said, admitting that the case was getting complicated.

City SP Karthik S., however, claimed they expected a breakthrough shortly.

Krishna Prasad, a software engineer with Wipro, suggested a possible process to access Sahay’s laptop. “The Windows password recovery tool has to be acquired on a USB drive. The laptop must then be booted from the USB. It will allow one to choose a new password through basic input/output system. One can then reset a new password and log in afresh,” he said.

Local MP Ajoy Kumar has written letters to chief minister Hemant Soren, DGP Rajiv Kumar and home secretary N.N. Pandey, seeking CBI investigations into the murder.